Sanderson meeting to discuss border barrier effects on Val Verde County
Sanderson residents met Sunday to weigh a barrier plan that could cut across Val Verde and Terrell counties, raising fears over ranch access, wildlife and river use.
A barrier plan that would stretch through portions of Terrell and Val Verde counties brought ranchers, property owners and other residents to Sanderson on Sunday for one of the few public conversations left before the project advances further. The meeting was framed as a chance to share information and organize around a construction push that could reshape daily life in a remote stretch of the Big Bend region.
The stakes in Val Verde County are concrete. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it is planning about 30 miles of primary border barrier in Val Verde and Kinney counties, along with 36 miles of waterborne barrier system and 2 miles of replacement barrier in Val Verde County. The project also includes roads, detection technology, cameras, lighting, fiber optic cables, power cables and utility shelters. CBP accepted public input on the Val Verde and Kinney counties project through Feb. 2, 2026, and the Department of Homeland Security issued a waiver on Dec. 30, 2025 to speed construction. DHS has also waived 28 laws across a more than 150-mile stretch from Fort Quitman in Hudspeth County to Colorado Canyon in Big Bend Ranch State Park.
That is why the Sanderson meeting centered on land access, wildlife, ranching, recreation and cross-border dynamics. For people living along the proposed route, the questions are immediate: whether ranch roads stay open, whether emergency responders can move quickly, how wildlife corridors will be affected and what happens when fencing, barriers and maintenance corridors reach private property. In a region where distances are long and services are limited, a new wall or waterborne system can alter access as much as it alters the border.
Local opposition has already taken shape. In March, five Big Bend-region sheriffs, Danny Dominguez of Presidio County, Ronnie Dodson of Brewster County, Oscar Carrillo of Culberson County, Arvin West of Hudspeth County and Thaddeus Cleveland of Terrell County, issued a joint statement opposing a continuous wall in the region. They said the terrain already provides natural barriers and argued that technology and targeted patrols are better suited to the area. They also warned that permanent infrastructure, lighting, access roads and maintenance corridors could damage wildlife habitat, ranchland and tourism-based economies.
The concern is not abstract. Redford landowner and tourist guide Charlie Angell said CBP told him a 30-foot wall would go through his property, potentially cutting him off from the Rio Grande about 200 feet from his house and affecting his river-tour business. He said the reported lease offer was $1,000 for five years. For Val Verde County readers, that kind of impact shows why the Sanderson meeting mattered: the debate is about homes, livelihoods and whether people who live closest to the route will still be able to reach land they have worked for years.
Big Bend National Park adds another layer. The park shares 118 miles of border with Mexico and drew 561,000 visitors in 2024, generating an estimated $56.8 million in local gateway spending. Any barrier or access-road project in this landscape can reach far beyond federal land, touching ranching, recreation, river access and the tourism economy that depends on the region’s open terrain.
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